Assigistob to the pope



(NoModel.)

' J. KNOUS.

PEDAL FOB. VELQGIPEDES. No. 281,889. l Patented July 24, 1883.

N. PETERS, mmLimognpnur. wnhingiun. D. C.

' v UNITED STATES i PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN KNOUS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE POPE MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

PEDAL FOR VELOCIPEDES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 281,689, dated July 24,1883. Application fiieaApri]2s,1se3. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern,

Be it known that I, JOHN KNoUs, of the city of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pedalsfor Velocipedes, of which the following is a specification. Y

My invention relates more particularly to that class of pedals called inthe trade ball pedals, and to improvementsV and contrivances foradapting and applying them to endless or continuous bent crank-shaftsfor tricycles, Ste.

Heretofore pedals 'for these bent crankshafts, where the pedal pin orjournal on which the pedal revolves has no free end over which the pedalmay be slipped, have been divided into halves or otherwiselongitudinally and placed on their shafts and secured there, usuallyhaving plain bearings, but sometimes with rollers and sometimes withgrooves on the shafts and corresponding grooves in the pedals, so as tomake what are called ballbearing7 pedals when in place. Five princip aldifficulties attended these p reViously-constructed ball-pedals, namely:the difficulty of getting the balls into the grooves and in proper placein putting thepedal on its shaft; the difficulty of getting a truebearing of the pedal on the shaft through the balls, with correctadjustment when it is put on; the difficulty of entire want of means foradjustment of the bearing after it has been put on to compensate forwear; the difficulty, or rather the imperfection, for a bearing ofhaving no hardened-steel surfaces on the shaft or in the pedals for thelballs to run on, and the difficulty of having two breaks or cracks inthe material for the track of each rowof balls.

The object of my improvements is to avoid these diftiulties and tofurnish the desideratum in a tricycle-pedal-namely, one that shall bereadily applicable to a bent shaft of anti-friction ball or rollerconstruction, with continuous hardened-steel surfaces for the balls orrollers, and with means for adjustment to correct position and for wear.

The manner in which I accomplish these objects and the nature of myinvention will be apparent from the following description, taken inconnection with the drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows, partly inelevation and partly in section, the material part of a bent crankshaftwith pedal embodying my improvements in one form 5 and Fig. 2 shows inend elevation the same pedal without crank-shaft or ball-A eases.

A is a bent crank-shaft. c a are annuli or slightly-raised surfaces iupon the shaft A, about the distance apart of the length of pedal, andadjusting devices with screw-threads on their peripheries.

B is a barrel or cylindrical'portion of the pedal inclosing the shaft.

C C are the end plates of the pedal.

D D D D are clamps or brackets 011 the barl rel B for the end plates.

EE are flanges or open cylindrical parts on the barrel, the end plates,the lugs, and the flanges-may all be made in one piece of metal and thendivided in the middle, or may be made in separate pieces adapted to besecured together; or they may be divided any other way, the essentialthing being to have these parts of the pedal separable, so that they maybe put onto or taken off from the shaft, and securable together, so thatthey may form practically one connected pedal-frame when on the shaft.

F F are rubber pedal-bars on the pedal-rods G G, and, as I prefer tomake this pedal, there are four of these bars and rods-.two in eachhalfthe object of this being to raise the soles of the riders shoesresting on the surfaces of the rubber bars off from the metallic partsbetween.

K K are hardened-steel balls.

b b are adjusting or steel rings having hardened conical or groovedsurfaces for the balls to rest on, and threaded internally, and adaptedto run on the threads on the annuli a a.

c c are serrated ridges or annuli on the cones Z b. i

d is a washer. c is a set-screw. f is a setnut.

g is a cylindrical hardened-steel ball-case, having, as I prefer to makeit, a lip or inward projection, m and h is a ring or circular platefitting into the end ofthe cylindrical ballcase g.

it' are holes in the lugs or clamps D D D D, and k 7c are screws. i

To put these parts together and operate the same, I generally proceed asfollows: Having the pedal-frame made in two parts or halves,

as before described, with the bars F F', &c., and the rods G G', dre.,secured in place therein, and having also the cylindrical ball-cases g,and the corresponding one for the other end of the pedal, with the rowsof balls therein, and closed by the insertion and securement of therings or circular plates l1', the balls also being held from droppingout of the cases by the inward lipsm, I first, beginning with one end-I-I, for instance-of the shaft A, slip on the cone b', which is ofslightly larger diameter than the diameternof the shaft A, so that itwill slip around the curve or bend ofthe shaft and bring itapproximately to its place on the threaded annulus a. I then put on inthe same manner the case g, containing the balls K, and bring thatapproximately to its position, as shown in Fig. 1. I then put on asimilar cylindrical case with balls, but with the reverse side first. I

then put on in a similar way the adjusting-cone b, the washer (l, andtheset-nut f. I then place the parts of the pedal frame between and aroundthe cylindrical cases g and on the shaft A, bringing them to theirrequired relativel position, and so that the fianges E E and the outerportions of the end plates, C C', which are within the flanges, form afirm inclosure and securement of the ball-cases g, which are thusrendered substantially component parts of the pedal-frame, the two partsof the pedal-frame being secured firmly together by the screws or boltsk k in the holes z li. I then turn the adjusting-cone b to the desiredposition and secure it there with the set-screw e, complete theadjustment of the pedalgbearings by turning the cone Z1 to its properposition, and secure it there by turning up the set-nut f ti ghtly. Now,the bearing of the pedal is entirely upon the two rows of balls, one ateither end, and the balls at either end take their substantial bearingson the side of the case adjacent to the end plate, on the side adjacentto the flange, and on the cone, and of course against each other. It isevident that the balls have a continuous track, that the surfaces onwhich they bear may be finely polished and hardened, and that completeadjustability for position and to compensate for wear is secured, aswell as the other advantages referred to.

It is obvious that modifications as to form of the contrivance shown anddescribed may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention,and that the same may be applied to wheels or other pieces of machinerythan pedals or in other machines than tri cyel es wherever it is desiredto have an adjustable ball or roller bearing on a bent or continuousshaft.

I claim as new and of my inventionl. The described velocipede-pedal,consisting in two complementary parts, and having the bars F Fl G G, endplates, H H, ears D D', and screws k, and the.flanges E E, constructedand adapted essentially as set forth.

2. In combination with a velocipede, bent pedal-shaft A, the raisedseats a, c, and movable cones b b, constructed and adapted substantiallyas and for the purposes set forth.

3. rIhe combination, in a veloeipede-pedal and bearing device, of atwopart pedal and flanges E E, with cylindrical ball-cases g g', detentsh h', and balls K K, all constructed and adapted to operatesubstantially as set forth.

4. The combination of shaft A with raised seats a a, adjusting-concs bb, and means :for setting the same in adjustment, ball-cases f/ g, andthe two-part flanges E IG', and end plates, H H, bearing pedal-bars, andfirmly secured together, essentially as set forth.

JNO. KNOUS.

Witnessesz WVM. M. DURELL, J. L. BLANCHARD.

